Wall structure



March 9, 1954 A. HOROWITZ ET AL 2,671,538

WALL STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 5, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS ALEXANDRE HOROWITZ and HUBERTUS HENRICUS LODEWIJK STRIJBOS HOROWITZ ET AL March 9, 1954 WALL STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 5, 1951 new IN V EN TORS ALEXANDER HOROWITZ and HUBERTUS EENRICUS LODEWIJ'K STRIJBOS Patented Mar. 9, 1954 WALL STRUCTURE Alexandre Horowitz and Hubertus Henricus Lodewizik Strijbos, Amersfoort, Netherlands, as-

signors to N. V.

Ontwikke'lingmaatschappij "Polynorm, Amsterdam, Netherlands, a limited company of the Netherl nds Application September 5, 1951, Serial No. 245,112

Claims priority, application Netherlands September 6, 1950 5 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a device for securing building panels or the like to a supporting construction, more specifically .of the kind in which the edges of adjacent building panels are onclosed between a rear strip secured to an element of the supporting construction and a front strip arranged in parallel relation to the rear strip and adapted to be tightly drawn towards said rear strip by means of wedgi-ng members.

' In known devices of the above mentioned kind the wedging members are constituted by hooks secured to the front strip and having beveled edges, said hooks projecting through openings of the rear strip and the beveled edges of the hooks coming into wed-ging engagement with the edges of said openings when the front strip is moved in longitudinal direction with regard to the rear strip.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved and simple device in which a longitu dina'l displacement of the front strip is not neces sary to obtain the wedging action, which is of special advantage, since this enables to arrange the front strip closely fitting between .an upper and a lower limit, such .as -.e. go between the floor and the ceiling of a room of the building.

Another object of the invention is to effect the wedging action by means of binding elements wh m y be secured to the rear strip and which are provided withloclnng tongues having beveled ed es which come into wedging -.ensagement with abutting edges of the front strip when bending said tongues in lateral direction.

Arurther object of the invention is to improve the clamping effect of the strips by giving a special shape to the front strip.

7 A still further object of the invention is to :make use of binding elements between the front strip and the rear strip which may serve at the same time to secure the rear strip firmly and adequately to a supporting element of the building construction.

Still another object of the invention is to provide the clamping device with a covering strip which may be readily snapped into engagement with the front strip.

With these and other objects in view, the invention resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows a practical embodiment of the device in perspective view, some of the elements of the device being partially broken away and the locking tongues of the binding element shown being in their inactive position, ie. before being bent laterally,

2 is a horizontal cross section on a larger scale, the tongues of the binding element b ing shown in active or bent position,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a bind n element and Fig. 4 is a front view with the covering $13.1 partly broken away and the tongues of the bind ing element being bent in active position. i

Referring to the drawings, the buildi g panels or slabs l are arranged with their lateral edges in parallel and spaced relation in front of the flange of a stud 2 of the support ng construction, so that between the lateral edges of the panels a space 3 is formed.

The panel edges are enclosed between two par-s allel strips, viz. a rear strip 4 and a front strip 5. Both strips have a channel shaped central portion 6 and 1, respectively, said central portions projecting into the space 3 between the panels 1 and being provided in the bottom of the channel with elongated openings or slots 8 and 9, respectively, arranged in spaced relation, only one set of these openings being shown in the drawings. Through each opening 8 and 9 and through a corresponding opening ll! of the stud 2 a sheetlike binding element II is inserted. The binding elements I Lvvhich are thus arranged in spaced relation throughout the length of the strips .4 and 5, serve to clamp these strips firmly together and to press the building panels 1 against the stud 2.

Each binding element H see also Fig. 3 has on the rear side two locking tongues 12a and 12b and on the front side two locking tongues 16a and I31), said tongues being provided with beveled ed es 1,4. At the upper and lower ed e the bind ing element H is provided with a shoulder. or cam It, s id cams L5 projectin e ond the edges f the opening 3. In the cont -.1 part of the bind; ing element II two projections it, one on each side of said element, are formed by pressing the sheetlike material out of the plane of said element.

The front strip 5 has upturned flanges l I, I8 along each of its side edges, said flanges being engaged by the bent side edges 20 of a covering strip IS.

The operation of the device is as follows:

After having inserted the binding elements ll through the openings IU of the stud 2, the tongues l2a and I2?) are bent in opposite lateral direction by means of a suitable tool. The beveled edges Id of said tongues cooperate with the edges of the opening I 0 so as to draw the element ll against the stud 2.

Then the rear strip 4 is placed over the elements II, said elements projecting through the openings 8 of the strip 4. By slightly pressing the strip 4 towards thestud 2, said strip snaps over the projections I6, since the lateral edges of the opening 8 will be pressed outwardly by said projections and then spring back into their original position. Thus, when the binding elements I I have been secured to the stud 2, the rear strip 4 is placed over said elements I I and against the stud 2. The front part of the binding elements II, including the projections I6 and the locking tongues I 3a and I3b, pass through the opening 8 in the rear strip 4, but the lateral projections I5 cannot pass through said opening. The strip 4 abuts with the bottom of its channel shaped front part against the front edges of said projections I5 (see Figs. 1 and 2). Thus, the projections I5 are disposed between the stud 2 and the bottom of the said channel shaped front part of the strip 4.

Thereafter the building panels I are applied against the rear strip 4 and the front strip 5 is slid with the openings 9 in the bottom of its channel shaped portion 1 over the tongues I3a, I3b of the elements II. Said tongues I3a, I3b are now bent laterally in opposite direction. The beveled edges I4 of these tongues thereby come into wedging engagement with the abutting edges 2| constituted by the transition of the walls of the channel shaped portion I into the fiat portions of the strip 5. In consequence thereof the front strip 5 is drawn towards the rear strip 4 and the edges of the adjacent panels I are firmly held between both strips. 7

The clamping action is considerably increased by the special shape of the front strip 5, since by laterally bending the tongues I311, I3b the walls of the channel shaped portion I are forced outwardly, so that the flat portions of the strip 5 bearing against the front face of the panels I tend to swing backwards towards the rear strip 4.

'Finally the covering strip I9 is pressed upon the front strip 5, said covering strip I9 being firmly held in position by the resiliency of the flanges I 1, I8 and the bent edges 20.

What we claim is:

. 1. A wall structure comprising in combination at least one supporting member, a rear strip extending in longitudinal direction of said supporting member and being secured thereto, a front strip arranged in parallel spaced relation to said rear strip, wall panels having their adjacent side edges spaced apart, their spaced edges disposed between said rear strip and said front strip and at least one sheetlike binding element secured to said supporting member and having a body portion extending from said rear strip, two opposedly extending hook shaped locking tongues positioned on an edge of said binding element, the edges of said tongues contiguous to said body portion being beveled, an. .elongated aperture at the back of said front strip receiving said tongues, said tongues being bent laterally of said body portion and the beveled edges thereof wedgedly engaging the front strip and forcing said front strip tightly against said panel edges.

2. A wall structure as defined in claim 1, wherein the front strip is provided with a flat web portion resting against the front faces of the adjacent panels, a channel shaped portion on said front strip extending centrally and rearwardly from said web portion and fitting in the space between the adjacent panel edges, the locking tongues of said binding element extending beyond said channel shaped portion said beveled edges wedgedly engaging the transition edges between said channel shaped portion and said web portion.

3. A wall structure as defined in claim 1, wherein each binding element includes a second pair of opposedly extending hook shaped locking tongues positioned on the opposite edge of said body portion, the edges of said second pair of tongues contiguous to said body portion being beveled, said second pair of locking tongues projecting through an elongated aperture in said supporting member, said second pair of tongues being bent laterally of said body portion, said beveled edges wedgedly engaging the edges of said elongated aperture and firmly securing the binding element to the supportingmember.

- 4. A wall structure as defined in claim 3, wherein said rear strip includes at least one elongated aperture therein, said second pair of tongues extending through said apertures in said rear strip, resilient projections on the body portion of said binding element, said rear strip being retained between said supporting member and said projections.

5. A wall structure as defined in claim 2, wherein the lateral edges of the web portion of the front strip have forwardly bent resilient flanges, a finishing strip with rearwardly bent flanges disposed against said front strip, the flanges of said front strip and said finishing strip resiliently engaging each other.

' ALEXANDRE HOROWITZ.

HUBERTUS HENRICUS LODEWIJK STRIJBOS.

References Cited in the file of this patent Mulligan -1 May 14, 1946 

